SOL RASHIDI
AI Adoption Keynote Speaker | World’s First Chief AI Officer | Author, Your AI Survival Guide
Sol Rashidi is an AI adoption keynote speaker and the world’s first Chief AI Officer for enterprise. A four-time Fortune 500 C-suite executive and former Amazon technology leader, she helped IBM launch Watson in 2011 and has led more than 30 large-scale data and AI programmes at Sony Music, Merck, Estée Lauder and Amazon. She is the best-selling author of Your AI Survival Guide.
Most organisations aren’t short of AI ambition. They’re short of AI results. Pilots stall, budgets grow and teams quietly worry about what it means for their jobs. Sol’s message is refreshingly practical: AI should amplify your people, not replace them, and getting there takes clear frameworks, strong governance and honest leadership rather than more hype.
Why is AI stalling in so many organisations?
The challenge isn’t adopting AI. It’s leading with it. Leaders can’t separate hype from what actually works. Pilots never reach scale because governance and security were an afterthought. And employees disengage because nobody has shown them where they fit in an AI-enabled business. Sol addresses all three, from experience rather than theory.
Why book Sol Rashidi as your AI adoption keynote speaker?
- She has done the job. Sol has been Chief Data, Analytics and AI Officer across four Fortune 500 companies, and she speaks about real deployments, scraped knees and all.
- She puts people first. Her mission is to make sure AI and automation amplify the workforce rather than displace it. She created The Human Amplification Index™, which measures both financial and human return on AI.
- She makes the complex simple. Audiences without a technical background leave with frameworks they can use on Monday morning.
- She is current. A Harvard Fellow studying AI’s impact on the workforce and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon, she brings live research to the stage.
Keynotes
The AI Reality Check: What It Takes to Scale and the Future of Leadership
AI has become a battleground of hype, half-truths and hard realities. Sol separates fact from fiction in today’s AI market and shows leaders how to scale responsibly, with governance and cybersecurity built in from day one.
- A clear view of what’s real in AI right now
- A framework for scaling beyond pilots
- The leadership habits that make AI stick
AI Without the Hype: What to Do, What to Avoid, and What Comes Next
A practical guide to where AI genuinely adds value across business and personal workflows, and where it simply adds complexity. Ideal for leadership teams making investment decisions.
- A decision filter for AI projects
- The common traps to avoid
- A realistic view of the next one to three years
The AI + Human Workforce: Building the Workforce of the Future
Traditional talent models are giving way to dynamic skills, AI-augmented teams and more adaptive organisations. Sol shows how HR, leadership and middle management can plan ahead, so people grow alongside the technology.
- A people-centred operating model for AI
- The skills that will matter most
- A practical plan for the next one to three years
Is AI Rusting Our Brains?
Based on her TEDxCharleston talk, viewed more than a million times, and her work on Intellectual Atrophy™, Sol explores what happens to human thinking when we hand too much to machines, and how to stay sharp, creative and in charge.
- An honest look at over-reliance on AI
- Simple habits that keep human judgement strong
- How to use AI as a thinking partner, not a crutch
As an AI adoption keynote speaker, Sol tailors every session to your audience and industry, so it lands with boards, HR teams and technologists alike.
Formats: keynote, executive workshop, fireside chat, panel moderation and virtual sessions.
What do event organisers say?
Clients include Vanguard, YPO, Columbia Business School, AppFolio and Lumen.
“Sol was FANTASTIC! Her 30-minute keynote received 100% satisfaction, our highest rated speaker.”
Vanguard
“The way she uncomplicated a complicated topic was a master class.”
YPO
“I was absolutely amazed by the talk. I had never attended a live talk with such a perfect mix of energy, passion, brilliance, edginess and humor – I am still replaying/reprocessing it today.”
Columbia Business School
“Sol Rashidi was incredible – she tailored her content to our audience and was highly engaging. We are definitely bringing her back a few more times.”
AppFolio
“Sol Rashidi is an absolute pleasure. Her knowledge and credentials are amazing and impressive, but her down-to-earth personality and approach with our audiences outshines them all.”
Lumen
“That was brilliant, best speaker yet.”
CEO, PCP
“It was amazing. I could listen to Sol, the main speaker all day! She is unbelievable.”
Power Women Luncheon
BIOGRAPHY
Sol Rashidi
Sol Rashidi has spent more than 14 years on the inside of real AI deployments. She began her AI career in 2011 helping IBM launch Watson, and in 2016 became the world’s first Chief AI Officer for enterprise.
Since then she has held four C-suite roles at Fortune 500 companies, served as a technology executive at Amazon, and led data and AI programmes at Sony Music, Merck and Estée Lauder. She holds 10 patents and wrote the best-selling Your AI Survival Guide: Scraped Knees, Bruised Elbows, and Lessons Learned from Real-World AI Deployments, written for business leaders without a technology background.
Sol is a Harvard Fellow studying the impact of AI on the workforce and an adjunct professor at Carnegie Mellon. She created The Human Amplification Index™ and Intellectual Atrophy™ education, and her three TEDx talks have been viewed more than a million times.
Forbes named her an “AI Maverick & Visionary of the 21st Century” and one of the “Top 5 Leaders Taking AI to Everyone”. She has also been recognised among the Top 100 AI Thought Leaders and the 50 Most Powerful Women in Tech. Recent stages include the ISE 2026 keynote in Barcelona and TEDxStanford.
Sol is ideal for: boards and CEOs who need AI to deliver return; HR and people leaders preparing their workforce for AI-augmented roles; technology, data and transformation teams scaling AI with governance in place; and financial services, pharma, consumer brand, media and technology conferences across Europe and beyond.
Looking for an AI adoption keynote speaker for your conference, leadership summit or board session? Enquire about Sol Rashidi’s availability and tell us about your audience. We’ll shape a session that fits, from keynote to hands-on workshop.